In brief
We’ve partnered with Power to Change to support a cohort of community businesses to reflect on the power and potential of relationships and develop strategies for building successful businesses based on strong relationships. In this blog, we lay out our plans.
What role do relationships play in establishing a successful community business? Which relationships are most important? Why? What does a ‘good’ relationship look like for a community business? What conditions help them to flourish?
We’ll be taking a cohort of 12 community business through a four-part peer learning programme. The programme will kick off in mid-September and give community business the space and structure to reflect on these questions and to:
Map existing relationships
to visualise their networks as they currently are and identify areas to focus on developing further
Identify strong and weak spots
in their current ‘relationships practice’ to see where relationships are being maximised, and where they could be strengthen
Develop an action plan
for building better relationships and, ultimately, a stronger, more resilient community business
Throughout the programme, we’ll be practicing what we preach by encouraging participants to get to know one another and develop new connections. We’ll be minimising the amount of talking that we do, instead handing the floor to community businesses to share their reflections and expertise with one another. In doing so, we hope to help unearth and share around what community businesses and their Catalyst mentors already intuitively know about building great relationships, and create new supportive networks amongst those taking part.
Find out how you can become a Relationship Maker
For more information about our bespoke support packages and training programmes, get in touch with Immy at immy@relationshipsproject.org
